Lindsay M. Wesson
Lindsay Madison Wesson (born June 24, 1977) is an American politician and a current United States Senator from Nevada. Wesson, prior to her Senate appointment, was an established successful civil rights lawyer and Lincoln County Sheriffs Deputy. Wesson is one of three Independent party Senators current serving. Wesson was born in Rachel, Nevada, birthed at home before her parents could get to a hospital. She attended primary schooling in Lincoln County, Nevada from seventh grade onward, following homeschooling from age five until age 12. Wesson attended law school as the University of Nevada; Las Vegas (UNLV) in 1995 and graduated with a Masters in Criminal Justice and a Minor in Sociology in 2001. She joined a law practice in Las Vegas and served as a civil rights attorney between 2002 and 2012. In 2005, Wesson joined the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office as a Deputy and served as such until 2012. Wesson is famous for representing a group of gun owners in Nevada state court in 2007, following their arrests by city of Henderson police for possession of legally registered firearms in violation of municipal ordinance. The result was a major victory for gun owners statewide, prohibiting counties and municipalities from passing more restrictive gun regulations than the state law. Wesson ran for a Senate position during the 2012 U.S. elections taking a strong pro-gun stance against the Democratic party, supporting the enhancement of LGBT rights and called for the abolition of the Federal Reserve. Wesson received widespread support from Nevadans, defeating Republican candidate Dean Heller and Democratic candidate Shelly Berkeley for the position. Her successful run for Senator was based on the popular, yet controversial, slogan "Tired of the SSDD." Senator Wesson entered major media spotlight in October of 2013 when she became the only elected official in the U.S. Congress and Senate to refuse paychecks during the government shutdown. Wesson also appeared and spoke at the October 13, 2013 Million Vet March on Washington and Truckers Ride For the Constitution, condemning the actions of the U.S. President, the Congress and her fellow Senators who were responsible for shutting down the United States and those who refused to surrender their own pay, while 800,000 American federal workers suffered furlough when the shutdown began on October 2nd. Political Views Gun Debate Lindsay Wesson is regarded as a staunch pro-gun and pro-Second Amendment advocate and has been rated as "Grade A" by the National Rifle Association for her defensive pro-gun policies. Wesson is a gun owner in the state of Nevada and often seen in public openly carrying her semi-automatic pistol on daily activities. She supports and advocates for national gun reciprocity laws, the right of citizens' access to shall-issue concealed carrying permits or completely unrestricted carry in their states, the right to openly carry a firearm on one's person and the repeal of unconstitutional bans on certain "assault" firearms in California and New York. Wesson has frequently used research and statistics from the Department of Justice and Department of Health to forward her pro-gun views, stating "there is no evidence that assault weapon bans have any effect on gun violence reduction". She has pointed out that the cities and states with the strictest gun regulations and prohibitions are also the most violent and have the highest violent crime rates nationally. Wesson has also openly criticized the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence for their intentional falsification of facts and statistics and "absurd allegations" about law abiding gun owners. She has also criticized Senator Diane Feinstein's frequent attempts at proposing gun ban legislation and during Senate hearings in which Feinstein is speaking out against firearms, constantly points out the flaws or lies in her anti-gun allegations. Wesson is strongly for the right of self defense from criminal actions, condemning states which have Duty-to-Retreat laws, prohibitions on use of force against attackers or refuse to pass Castle Doctrine law. Wesson believes self defense and self preservation from unwarranted attack is a human right and fully supports Stand-Your-Ground provisions and Castle Doctrine. Lindsay Wesson is openly and critically against the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, which requires Senate ratification to become enforceable law within the United States, alleging the international treaty "blatantly infringes on the sovereignty of the United States and the U.S. Constitution" and "is the greatest threat today on the right to bear arms". The Department of Homeland Security Senator Wesson is a well known critic of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, commonly condemning and criticizing the actions and policies of the federal Department and its various agencies. Wesson has called out the TSA for its activities which she stated were "unconstitutional", the actions of border agents and frequent scandals and failures of FEMA to effectively respond to disasters in a timely manner. Wesson has called the Department of Homeland Security "excessively bloated with budgetary waste". Wesson has criticized DHS fusion centers for being completely ineffective at preventing, catching or stopping any terrorist threats and its common use for spying on and harassing anti-government protesters, movements and supporters of certain political campaigns. She has also called out the Missouri Information Analysis Center for its harassment and surveillance of pro-life activists, third party candidate supporters, conspiracy theorists, anti-war activists, Muslims and militias. Wesson has criticized the unconstitutional search and seizure of mail and illegal wiretapping. Senator Wesson is one of several U.S. elected officials demanding answers in regards to the Department's extraordinary purchasing and stockpiling of weapons, armored MRAP trucks and ammunition for domestic use following a report Homeland Security had purchased nearly two billion rounds of ammunition and nearly 2,000 armored trucks. Wesson was most vocal after Homeland Security claimed the ammunition was for training purposes, exclaiming "no one trains with hollowpoints!" Senator Wesson is a noted critic of Homeland Security's "list of suspicious terrorism activities" report released nationwide to hotels, internet cafes and other establishments alleging persons who pay in cash, yawn or take photos of famous landmarks as signs of terrorism. She has also criticized the "absurdity" of an officially released listing of keywords monitored by Homeland Security fusion centers and the NSA that could be potential signs of terrorism including "pork", "cloud" and "lightning". LGBT Rights Movement Senator Wesson is a strong supporter of equal rights and commonly endorses and supports legislation to enhance LGBT Americans rights and equality under the law, as well as protections from violence and crimes committed against them and prohibition of discrimination. Wesson has been long time in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act which would include sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of types of people or reasons that would be illegal to deny employment to or fire from a job on the basis of bias. Wesson has repeatedly released reports annually regarding the cost to LGBT Americans financially, emotionally and physically as a result of the current legality of work-place discrimination against homosexuals and transgender employees or prospective employees seeking work. She is a supporter of federal level recognition of homosexual and transgender relationships under government marriage license, stating "current law disenfranchises LGBT Americans in regard to their rights that straight couples have access to", including next-of-kin, hospital visitation, prison visitation, power of attorney and social security and tax entitlements married couples are entitled to. Wesson praised the passing and signing into law of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which added protection from violent crime and hate crimes for homosexuals and transgender Americans. Senator Wesson applauded the passing and signing into law the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, allowing American military servicemen and women to serve openly homosexual and not fear being outed while in service and discharged. She also applauded the Supreme Court's ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited recognition of same-sex marriages for all federal purposes, including insurance benefits for government employees, social security survivors' benefits, immigration, bankruptcy, and the filing of joint tax returns, as well as excluding same-sex spouses from the scope of laws protecting families of federal officers, laws evaluating financial aid eligibility, and federal ethics laws applicable to opposite-sex spouses. War on Drugs Senator Wesson is a major critic of the ongoing war on drugs, citing increased prison populations, border violence and unnecessary and excessive police raids against persons for personal use of drugs which pose no danger to individuals. Wesson primarily has called for the complete decriminalization of marijuana and has used scientific studies as evidence to validate the movement for cannabis decriminalization. Wesson notably criticizes the prison systems and drug enforcement agencies for the common mass arrests and incarceration of pot users, including people with valid and lawful prescription medical marijuana. She also condemns the federal interference in state issues regarding lawful medical marijuana where DEA raids are conducted in states where medical cannabis is legal, arresting farmers and seizing cannabis crops used to produce medicinal marijuana. Senator Wesson has also criticized the federal government for covering up and deceiving the public regarding actual positive uses of cannabis for both industrial and medicinal purposes. She has spoken out against the Schedule I designation of marijuana, which classifies it has having no medicinal value, despite massive amounts of scientific evidence of marijuana's properties in treating vast lists of ailments, diseases and cancers without any side effects. She applauded the state of Colorado on the total decriminalization of marijuana and legalization of recreational sale and use and supports the State of Washington and the State of New York in their proposals on legalizing cannabis. War on Terrorism Senator Wesson has always held views against the war in Iraq and continues to blame the ongoing crisis in the Middle East on the initial invasion of the country in 2003. She has called repeatedly for full withdrawal and criminal investigations into the George W. Bush administration regarding the falsifications of intelligence data used to validate the invasion of Iraq. She continues to hold a stance against any involvement in the Arab Spring which led to the fall of the governments of Egypt and Libya. Wesson has been the most outspoken politician against the U.S. funding, training and arming of rebel groups in Syria. She blames the current crisis with the Islamic State terror group on U.S. funding and arming of rebel groups and terrorists in Syria and Iraq. Wesson has also used many of the leaked documents and diplomatic cables released by whistle-blowers like Edward Snowden and Julian Assange as evidence against the Obama administration for "a series of crimes against the American people and against the people of Syria and Iraq". Senator Wesson has also been notable for calling out the hypocrisy of the Obama administration in regards to the attempts to arrest and silence whistle-blowers who out government corruption and war crimes. The Senator has stated that President Barack Obama's promises to be the most transparent administration in history "were and are blatant lies". Wesson has held discussions and interviews with Edward Snowden and Julian Assange via video calls on radio shows, trying to raise awareness towards government corruption. Wesson has also called for the President to hold to his promises of transparency and pardon whistle-blower Chelsea "Bradley" Manning, who leaked documents of U.S. war crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wesson has condemned bills signed into law by President Obama and has condemned several of Obama's executive orders, calling them "tyrannical and unconstitutional". She condemned the National Defense Authorization Act for its sections allowing the government to arbitrarily and indefinitely detain American citizens without due process. She also condemned the use of National Security Agency programs to spy on American citizens without warrant and in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The leaking of documents showing the NSA, CIA and other federal agencies using programs to monitor and spy on the American people led to calls from Wesson to abolish the CIA, NSA and Department of Homeland Security altogether. "We no longer live in a free Republic, and our Constitution no longer means anything to these people.", she stated in a speech on Capitol Hill, "We have all become enemy combatants and threats to our own government. The real enemy lives on Pennsylvania Avenue." Senator Wesson has called for a re-investigation into the September 11th terrorist attacks, focusing specifically on why U.S. defenses were unable or unwilling to stop the attacks and investigations into allegations the U.S. and its allies were aware the attacks would happen, how, by who and when. Wesson has produced much documentation on the subject in Committee meetings, stating the U.S. government was aware the attacks would happen months prior and intentionally did nothing to prevent it. She has also recently submitted requests for an investigation and a halt of the Department of Defense 1033 program, which sells U.S. military combat vehicles and military arms to civilian law enforcement agencies at massive discount. "Our President claims weapons of war do not belong on our streets, promoting the disarmament of the people, yet allows our military to arm our police officers with combat vehicles, tanks and machine guns." Healthcare Reform *Criticism of Obamacare *Pro-Regulation of Insurance Provider Policies **Denial of Coverage of Pre-existing Conditions **Cancelling Coverage for Acquiring a Condition **Refusal to Cover Services **In-Network/Out-of-Network *Anti-Health Coverage Fines/Tax Economy & The Federal Reserve *Pro-Occupy Wall Street *Abolish U.S. Federal Reserve *Investigate the Banks *IRS Harassment of Obama Critics *Foreclosure Crisis *Audit the Federal Reserve and Treasury *Debt Crisis *Anti-Tax Haven Loopholes *Anti-Government Subsidies (Oil, Banks) *Anti-Job Outsourcing *Anti-Bankster Bailouts Women's Rights *Pro-Women in Combat Service *Partial on Abortion *Pro-Equal Pay *Rape Controversies Agriculture *Anti-Monsanto *Water Fluoridation *Anti-GMO's *Anti-Pesticides *Criticism of FDA *Anti-Food Additives Senate Service Voting History *Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (YEA) *Uniting American Families Act (YEA) *Marketplace Fairness Act (NAY) *United States–Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013 (NAY) *Animal Drug and Animal Generic Drug User Fee Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Abstain) *Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (YEA) *Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 (YEA) *Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013 (YEA) *Freedom to Fish Act (YEA) *Free Flow of Information Act of 2013 (NAY) 1 *Senate Bill 139: To uphold Second Amendment rights and prevent the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty. (YEA) *Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 (NAY) *H.Amdt.1141 to H.J.Res.124 Arming Syrian Rebels To Combat ISIS (NAY) *Trans-Pacific Partnership (NAY) Has stated her intention to vote down everything related to the TPP. *USA Patriot Act Renewal 2015 (NAY) Has joined with Rand Paul in threatening to filibuster attempts to renew law. Calls for letting the entire Act expire. *USA Freedom Act Resubmitted bill herself under 114th Congress Committee Appointments *United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights *United States Senate Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection *United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law Personal Legislation Introduced *Firearm Rights Protective Act - National carry reciprocity, mandatory state and federal regulation preemption, mandated shall-issue CCW, re-organization of federal NFA regulations *State Sovereignty & State Lands Act - Reinforces states rights and power of the states and county Sheriffs over federal intrusion. Re-regulates federal land management. Gives states the authority to claim jurisdiction over land within their territory. *Legislation With Representation Act - Prohibits concealing or hiding legislation, bills, Acts, orders and other acts of Congress or the Senate from the American public. Prohibits engaging in secretive behavior regarding legislation; mandates no-cost public access to all documents pertaining to laws, bills, Acts and orders submitted into or voted on by the Legislative Branch of federal government, including full text of such bills. Bundy Ranch Controversy Senator Wesson is known among her supporters as an elected official who takes action when an issue comes to heart. On April 5, 2014, Senator Wesson was the first federal official to respond to the high tension Cliven Bundy controversy 1. In early April of 2014, the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other federal agents surrounded the Cliven Bundy Ranch in northeastern Clark County, Nevada, complemented by a force of snipers, SWAT teams and BLM agents armed with assault rifles and helicopters. The BLM alleged that rancher Cliven Bundy was in violation of federal grazing laws and owed the government $1.1 million dollars in fees, however the Bundy family claims they lawfully own the land, purchased by their ancestors in 1887, decades before the BLM was established. Mr. Bundy announced he was not going to comply with a army of federal officials, calling the situation "another Ruby Ridge in the making". Senator Lindsay Wesson responded to the issue immediately on April 5th, condemning the excessive force used by the Bureau of Land Management and the violation of the Bundy family's lawful property rights. Enraged over the intense issue growing in her home state of Nevada, Wesson visited the site of protests against the BLM, accompanied by members of the Oath Keepers and her local Lincoln County Sheriffs Department deputies, and joined the protesters in demanding the BLM cease its operations. Wesson called on Nevada Governor Sandoval and the Clark County Sheriff, Doug Gillespie, to "boot the feds out". On April 9th and 10th, the Oath Keepers organization, among dozens of other patriot groups and militias had answered a call to arms declared by the Oath Keepers leader to respond to the Bundy Ranch, to provide defense and prevent "another Waco". Wesson returned to the protest site on April 10th, openly carrying a Glock 17 pistol, in a holster on her hip, and an AR-15 slung on her back, and donning an Oath Keeper's t-shirt. While speaking to the crowd of protesters, Wesson stated, "there will be no Ruby Ridge here in this state!" On April 11th, Senator Wesson responded to Clark County Commissioner Collins' statement that the protesters are "inbred bastards" and "better have funeral plans". 2 She called for his impeachment and reiterated, "We aren't throwing the first fist. We aren't firing the first shot." On April 13th, 2014, Senator Wesson joined hundreds of protesters, militiamen, cowboys on horseback and Oath Keepers patriots in a confrontation with the Bureau of Land Management, demanding the release of the Bundy family's cattle that had been seized. BLM agents eventually retreated and the crowd passed the barricades. Cowboys on horseback rounded up the stolen cattle and led them out of the BLM compound and back to the Bundy Ranch. Senator Wesson cheered to the crowds on April 14th as the BLM left the ranch stating, "This is a victory for our Constitution and a victory for liberty!" Wesson promised plans to introduce legislation to the U.S. Senate to reduce BLM powers and return federal lands to their respective states. Harry Reid Scandal Following the events that took place at the Bundy Ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada, Senator Lindsay Wesson requested an investigation into information leaked regarding fellow Nevada Senator, Democrat Senator Harry Reid, amid claims that he and Chinese development firms are behind vast land grabs by the federal government in the Nevada and Utah regions. Allegations made by alternative media sources said Senator Reid was partnered with Chinese solar development companies and oil shale fracking industries to seize ranching lands to sell off to companies for industrial uses. Wesson also demanded a criminal investigation into the Bureau of Land Management, after walking through the Bundy Ranch property with the Bundy family and viewing the devastation left behind by the federal agency. At the same time, Senator Wesson lashed back against Senator Reid's comment that referred to the militiamen and protesters as "domestic terrorists". Affiliations The Senator has many affiliations with major civil rights and human rights groups across the nation. As a Sheriff's Deputy for the County of Lincoln, Nevada, she is a member of the Fraternal Order of Police. As both a Sheriff's Deputy and a Senator of the United States Senate, Wesson is a sworn member of the Oath Keepers organization. She is also strongly endorsed and supported by the National Rifle Association and rated by the NRA as an "A+" Senator, a designation given to elected officials who are strictly pro-gun rights. Wesson is a member of the NRA and has spoken at NRA events. She is also endorsed strongly by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit group that fights for internet neutrality against government censorship. Wesson is also known for attending several Occupy events in Nevada and Washington DC, condemning the bailouts of the banks during the 2008 Recession. Senator Wesson has been known to commonly associate with notable Constitutionalists such as Congressman Dr. Ron Paul, former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura and Nevada Governor candidate David Lory VanderBeck, all of whom share the same ideals as Wesson. Both Congressman Paul and Senator Wesson have teamed together at times in calling for audits of the Federal Reserve and it's abolition. Wesson has also commonly sided with Governor Ventura in condemning the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA and the "growing police state". Both Wesson and candidate for Nevada Governor David VanderBeck share the same home state and share the same ideals regarding the federal government's growing corruption. Personal Life See Also Category:MizzKeyes World Category:Individuals Category:ALRP